Substantial Silence Since Summer Cinematic Scrutiny

¡Hola! It's been quite a while since I've posted a blog.
Let's see... What have I missed?...
Nothing significant comes to mind from September... Talk Like a Pirate Day was September 19th, and Marc made a fun day out of it at Moe's. He said if our customers ordered their food in "pirate speak" they'd get their drink for free. I took a shift just so I could work that day. That was so much fun!
There's a bit more to speak of in October. Crystal and I went to Gloucester, Va and I got a tattoo! It spells "Geek" in binary on my right upper arm. It's pretty awesome, if I don't say so myself. Also, to commemorate Halloween I wore some special contacts to work the Friday before Halloween, and that was fun.
Earlier this month I (and Crystal) went with some friends to Nekocon, an anime convention. That was loads of fun, and a necessary escape. I got my anime/geek fix, bought some new contacts, and decided on a new favorite (not #1, of course!) anime: Code Geass.
This week is pretty busy: I took tomorrow off from work so I can go to TCC and sign up for classes for January. Thursday is Thanksgiving of course, we'll have a large gathering at the Myers for dinner. On Saturday Crystal and I are commemorating a year of dating by exchanging gifts and going on a road trip somewhere.

Review: District 9

The film District 9 was, after all was said and done, quite good I think.
The movie was presented in the form of a documentary, with people being interviewed after the story took place. As per the documentary format, a hand held camera was used throughout the movie. This was the cause for some trepidation on my part, having seen the effect the movie Cloverfield had on its audience members because of the hand held camera. Fortunately District 9 did not have such chaotic camera work, so that had no adverse effects beyond worrying me.
The story itself was very interesting: an alien race is forced to live in slum like conditions in a makeshift compound known as "District 9", located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The story centralizes around a government agent, Wikus Van De Merwe, who is exposed to the alien race's biotechnology.
My only problem with the movie is that it took so long for the story to develop.
The film is, however, rater R for excessive language and plentiful gory violence. If it were not so gruesome and riddled with obscenities, I would recommend it greatly.

August: Agonizing Anticipation

August is finally here, and only a few days in I could tell this month is going to bother me.
I've already made plans for celebrating Crystal's birthday toward the end of the month, so I'm spending as little money as I can this month. I've been looking forward to this celebration for a few months now, so by now the anticipation is really getting to me, and it's only going to get worse; especially since I'm keeping the day's events a secret from Crystal, and I spend so much time with her.

Maybe Moe's might make me manager?

It's been a while since I last blogged. The hunt for a second or full-time job isn't going very well, but things are good at Moe's.

Since I got my own vehicle I've gotten bolder in asking Marc, my manager, to show me what more I can learn to do in order to make things easier for him. One thing I had in mind was caterings. Usually it's either Marc or Alyson that delivers the caterings, but since I also have a license, I asked what needs to be done in order for me to be able to take them myself, since I know that both Marc and Alyson prefer to be able to stay at the store and help there.
Marc took my request and not only offered to let me ride along a few times, but he showed me how to prepare the catering the night before, and soon he is going to show me how to take the order over the phone, so I will be able to take care of a catering from phone order to set up, to delivery. I'm very excited!

Escalators exasperate everyone.

I hurt my knee yesterday, and <-- yonder photo shows what it now looks like - at the end of the second day!
I don't have much else to talk about, so I'll stop typing now.
I mean it. I'm going to stop now.
I need to stop. I'm getting grossed out by this picture.
I'm going to stop looking at it.
I will. Now.
Any time now.

Boy, blogging sure beats boredom!

I haven't blogged in a while. Not that nothing's happened, but I usually have a hard time knowing what to say.
My 20th birthday was on Friday the 24th. I made a much bigger deal about it than Crystal liked. Marc, my manager at Moe's, makes gourmet cakes on the side. (He's trying to make a business out of it.) I got him to make me a cake for my birthday. (See left.)
The cake was made to serve 20 people, so I invited as many people as I could to come over to my house for cake, then mini golf. Unfortunately, only 5 people said they would come, but then only 2 people showed up. It was still pretty fun, since we ended up going to Moe's for lunch, then bowling at Oceana Naval Base. I've never been there, so it was pretty cool to be able to go.
The cake turned out amazingly: it was very tasty and looked great. My continual complaint is that I paid quite a bit of money for it, and I didn't have very many people to share it with, so it seems like a big waste. Oh well, it was a momentous occasion, so I guess it was worth it.

Advocating Anime

Crystal has been softening to the idea of anime.

She knows I've attended the anime club at school and went to Nekocon a few (4) times.

I've argued the point with her a few times that anime isn't all satanic or porn like my mom seems to think. I told her about my favorite anime: Ghost In the Shell, and how it's very intelligent and philosophical. It was even named by the Wachowski brothers as one of the inspirations for the Matrix trilogy.

She said she'd watch it. (Just to appease me.)

Randy has apparently seen some of this very series in the past, and was also excited to watch it with us. Awesome, he can help me explain and advocate Ghost In the Shell to Crystal.

She saw an episode, and decided she could tolerate it further. I was convinced she'd like it, so I continued to show her more, and she conintued to say it was a little interesting and she wouldn't mind seeing some more.

Finally we were at her parents' place this afternoon with her sisters while her parents went out, and we saw another episode or two, and Crystal told me that she likes Ghost In the Shell.

Score! I win!

Avast! April Arrives! Applause All!

So, as you probably know, April is here. That means my birthday is coming up.
I have arranged a few details such as inviting many of my friends to do something around the day, giving them an alternative, and one surprise which I will blog about afterward so as not to ruin it.
I've never really made a big deal out of my birthday. Last year I went bowling with three of my friends and told the rest of my friends to get my favorite ice cream from Cold Stone. As with last year, I told everyone to go to Cold Stone, but I'm not sure what I want to do with my friends this year. I have a very different set of friends this year, and things would be different even if I did the same thing. If anyone does read this, please comment with your suggestions. Also, you are invited to come along too in case you haven't been told yet.

Falling Up Brings Me Back

When I was in 1st Grade at Norfolk Christian Elementary's Vriginia Beach campus, I did a presentation of the poem "Sidewalking" from Shel Silverstein's book "Falling Up'. I love his material. It was always fun to read, and a great joy to present to my school.

Messed up machines make me mad.

My laptop just flipped out on me. I was playing a game I've had for months, and it was even paused. I wasn't doing anything to strenuous, but it shut itself down and wouldn't turn back on for anything! I'm so very frustrated.....

Missed merriments

Today was [guess]. It wasn't as much of a holiday as I wanted it to be.
The weather was pretty bad, so business was slow and I was sent home early. I went to see Crystal, and she wasn't even wearing green! The horror!
I had apparently missed the festivities - green colored food for breakfast and lunch, and the plan for dinner was Shepherd's Pie (English). So much for what could have been a fun holiday.

I love...

...my girlfriend, Crystal. ♥

She's AMAZING! She's smart, good-looking, fun, practical, amusing loves God; and she likes me. What more could I ask for?

Frustratingly Confusing Communication Failures

Crystal and I seem to be having trouble with communication sometimes.

Last night she told me that she needs to work on her homework so I won't be able to see her until Sunday. Fine. I decided Thursday would be convenient to see a movie that Crystal wouldn't be interested in.

I decided that I would see Watchmen after I got off work. Crystal isn't a geek like I am, she's usually simply indulgent in that area, so I figured she wouldn't be interested at all in that movie.

I texted Crystal after I clocked off and I even told her exactly what movie I planned to see and when. She said "enjoy your movie", and that was it.

After my movie is over (2.5 hours later), and I'm on my way home, Crystal mentions that she wishes I hadn't seen that movie because she wanted us to watch it together.

Hold on, what?

There is no reason she couldn't have simply told me BEFORE I saw the movie! She could have mentioned it looking intriguing when she saw the trailer, or she could have said something when I told her I planned on seeing it this afternoon. I could have picked another movie to see (Street Fighter IS still playing), or I could have just gone home and played video games, more than content to wait to see Watchmen with her.

I hope Crystal understands that knowing she didn't speak up and afford me the pleasure of waiting to see it with her upsets me more than her possibly "ruining my plans".

Ah, Spring is Just Around the Corner

Spring seems to have arrived. Today is the perfect day: a Saturday with lots of sun and a high of 72. I absolutely love it.

I'm now at the Myers' waiting for Crystal to get back from her coffee date with Allison. As soon as she gets back we'll be headed off to the Virginia Diner in Wakefield, VA.
She went there when she was 12, and now she works at a franchise of their store here in Virginia Beach, so she's very excited about the idea of going there again. As far as I can tell, and Crystal has confirmed it, it'll be just like a Cracker Barrel, so I don't see the appeal, but oh well.

I'm so glad we're at least going on another road trip again. We haven't gone since November, and it felt so regular back then. I do love getting out of the house and going somewhere, anywhere. I love seeing the country, finding new places, meeting new people and trying new things. The novelty of a new experience is just so thrilling that I don't mind that today's destination is so much more exciting for her than for me. It is also very nice to see her enjoying herself, so that makes up for it too.

One of the few things I hate about being male.

So today was fun.
I dropped my dad off to do his clerical work at church as he does every Tuesday through Wednesday, and I went on to the Myer's to see Crystal. Centerville Turnpike was being drained of flooding so Regent University Drive was backed up interestingly far, so I'm glad it didn't affect me.
As I stepped through the door I didn't see Crystal groggily stepping out of the bathroom to greet me as usual from across the dark sitting room. I saw A.J. sitting at his breakfast giving me a cheery "Hi Mr. David!", Michan sitting at her computer, and Crystal on the couch, also with her laptop, apparently getting a head start on reading her latest syllabi - a startling change in the routine for the first morning of Spring Break for Crystal and Michan.
Nonplussed, I set my laptop bag down and sat next to Crystal on the couch with my Bible in hand to prepare for our devotions: today we were to finish Ephesians. Crystal fretted to me a little about her new workload, then she set her laptop down and gave me her attention. I read the last chapter and made the decision that we would begin Daniel tomorrow.
As Ana woke up, A.J. put in The Jungle Book 2 and Crystal and I watched it for a little while before heading out.
Crystal and I left the Myers' at precisely 10:35, for no truly adequately explained reason. We went to the Barnes & Noble at Pembroke to meet Crystal's friend Jordan, who was in town because was also on her spring break. At about tern after Crystal got a text mesage from Jordan, informing her that they had arrived. They?
As Crystal and I got to the Starbucks at the front of the building we saw Jordan, and we met her friend Sam. We all got drinks and snacks and sat down, and were soon joined, unexpectedly (at least by me), by Mike Lowry. 'Twas an amusing surprise.
At a little after one o'clock we all went our separate ways, Mike went away, Jordan and Sam went to check out Regent's book store, and Crystal and I went to check on her sisters while her mother gave us an absolute miserable time of it.
We went back to the Myers' to meet Deanna, and Jordan and Sam arrived shortly after we did. It was fun, but Jordan and Sam didn't stay very long, and I had to go bring my dad home from church.
Crystal came over later around 5:45, and my dad told her about a nanny position. She made a simple call, and got a very promising job. That's one of the few things that I hate about being male. I love working with kids, but as a male, it's not normal, and would be impossible for me to get a babysitting job, even just once. Nothing against Crystal. I love her, but it irks me that so easily she was able to get the kind of job that I've always wanted to be able to do.
After dinner Crystal and I played Spades with my parents, but around 10:15 my mom got tired and called the game. Crystal left and my parents went to bed.

That's all for now. I need to start moving on a career.

Something seems wrong.

Here I am sitting at the table with Crystal while she is typing a paper for her history class. She has been feeling sick over the last day and a half with some stomach virus, a little anxious about her grades and her scholarship being possibly at risk, and I think she's a little exasperated at me.

I just finished downloading a movie. I guess I'll just have to watch that and stay out of her way.

Precocious pontifications

Here I begin my first blog post. [Huzzah.]
I am currently sitting in the couch next to Crystal in the Myers' living room.
I met Michan Myer through working in the children's church on wednesday nights. Through spending time with her and her husband Randy I met Crystal, whom I may very well marry some day.
We spend almost all of our time thus: Crystal and the Myers work on their Regent homework, while I am content to sit next to Crystal on the couch amusing myself with my own laptop. I have games to play, and I mess around on Facebook.